PETER VENKMAN, in Hell...
by Adam Whitefire
Summary: Peter Venkman's tragic death sets off a chain of events which will test the Real Ghostbusters courage to the limit. The stakes are high as the fate of Peter Venkman's soul is on the line... can he be saved before it is too late?


Peter Venkman, in Hell… #1  
  
Damned if I Know  
  
A Real Ghostbusters horror fanfiction set in an alternate universe…  
  
By Adam Whitefire  
  
1992 C.E.  
  
Peter Venkman awoke with a start. He had a strange dream, a nightmare, but he couldn't remember what it was about.  
  
Oh shit… he muttered under his breath.  
  
Peter recognized his surroundings as a patients' room, but he didn't know which hospital. All he knew for sure was that he was hooked up to a life support system and he had a headache like a vice.  
  
Dr. Ruddle, Dr. Ruddle! Ray's voice spoke up, Is he going to make it?  
  
Peter chuckled fondly. "Ray, Erika. Of course."  
  
Dr. Erika Ruddle, Peter's latest love interest, was a surgeon at the All Saints Hospital on George Street with doctorates in medicine and psychology. They were good friends as well as lovers, and Peter valued their friendship as much as that of his team. After what happened between Peter and Dana, the Ghostbusters were glad to see Venkman with a good love life again.  
  
I'm sorry, Ray, Erika replied sadly, he's gone. Peter is dead.  
  
Peter checked the life support computer. It registered a normal heartbeat.  
  
Dead? Good riddance, Ray answered sarcastically, he was nothing but a cynical fraud who lived off of our knowledge.  
  
Peter felt a tear stream down his face. Ray, how could you? he voiced under his breath.  
  
Agreed, Egon added, I don't know why we ever put up with him.  
  
"Egon…" Peter said angrily, unable to raise his voice above a loud whisper. No one could hear him.  
  
Yeah man, at least I never had the gall to call myself a scientist, Winston added.  
  
"Winston too…" Peter moaned ruefully, "…have all my friends turned against me?"  
  
Come on, Ray said, let's go home and tell Janine and Slimer the good news.  
  
Peter could feel frustration and anger build up inside him, he wanted to get up and lash out at his dear friends, but when he tried to move, a burning pain shot up from his chest. He tried to scream, but all he could manage was a low moan. His headache doubled in intensity and he passed out from the pain.  
  
* * *  
  
ECTO-1A  
  
Silence filled the car as the three surviving Ghostbusters struggled with the loss of their dear friend and partner, Peter Venkman. Of the three, Egon had known Peter the longest, and the memories they shared haunted him like the ghosts they busted together.  
  
Ray was in tears, and struggled to keep from crying because Winston was driving.  
  
Winston was glad he was the one at the wheel because it was the only thing keeping him from the pain he felt at Peter's tragic passing.  
  
"I'll tell Janine," Egon offered.  
  
"Yes," Ray agreed, "I don't think she could take it from anyone else."  
  
"I still can't believe he's dead," Winston added ruefully.  
  
"At least he probably didn't suffer much, except from the fall," Egon reminded, with little comfort, "we saw him land face down when Traitus' goon threw him off the roof of the Sedgewick Hotel. He had to have been killed instantly from an impact like that."  
  
"Traitus… it's all his fault," Ray added angrily, "he set us up, and he laughed at us, the fucker, he LAUGHED!"  
  
The tension in the ambulance lifted, as Winston pulled the car onto their street.  
  
* * *  
  
Peter awoke with a start. He had a strange dream, a nightmare, but couldn't remember what it was about…  
  
Peter recognizes his surroundings as a patients' room in the All Saints Hospital. He wasn't sure how he knew that, as all patients' rooms look alike to him. All he knew for sure was that he was on a bed hooked up to a life support computer, and he had a headache like a vice.  
  
"Erika…" Peter whispered loudly, as he couldn't raise his voice any higher.  
  
Hello Venkie, Erika said cheerfully, as she walked into the room. Dr. Ruddle was one of the few people Peter gave the privilege of calling him Venkie.  
  
"Hi. What's up, Doc?" Venkman joked weakly. "Doc" was Peter's affectionate nickname for Erika.  
  
Erika was a tall, attractive blonde with her hair worn in a ponytail. She had dark brown eyes and tanned skin. She loved to sun herself, and her only bad habit was smoking.  
  
"Erika, where are the guys?"  
  
They're waiting for you just outside my office. Why don't you come and see them?  
  
Something in the back of his mind told Peter that trying to get up is a no-no. Peter listens to it. "Won't I need a wheelchair for that?"  
  
Well, aren't we the smart one? Traitus' voice remarked sarcastically.  
  
Erika grinned wickedly.  
  
You know what to do, 'Doc'.  
  
I am yours to command, Master, Erika said, slipping on her surgical gloves, Don't worry, Venkie, you'll probably pass out from the pain…  
  
Venkman watched with horror and pain as his beloved girlfriend sliced his shirt off with her surgical knife, then sliced his left breast open: revealing his still-beating heart. With inhuman strength she yanked it out. Peter was in agony as he felt the life run out of him, and he faded to red, then nothing.  
  
* * *  
  
GHOSTBUSTERS CENTRAL  
  
Janine was worried the whole time her friends were gone. She had reason to be. The call she sent them on was a nasty one. Demons were attacking the Sedgewick Hotel, and according to the panicked tenant who made the call, they had already killed seven people.  
  
To make matters worse, an hour ago Slimer started to cry. When she tried to calm him down, he kept moaning "Peter". It was ominous. Did the onionhead know something that she didn't?  
  
Janine breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ecto-1A pull in through the Firehouse doors. The Ghostbusters were finally home. At least that's what she thought, until only three of them emerged from the ambulance.  
  
"Where's Peter?" Janine asked worriedly.  
  
Ray and Winston avoided her gaze, turning their attention to their demon-filled ghost traps.  
  
Egon met her eyes and let her see the pain in his spectacled blues. Egon straightened his circular red specs. "Janine, Peter is dead. He was killed by one of the demons we trapped."  
  
"Oh Egon, I'm so sorry," Janine replied sadly, and ran over to him. The physicist deliberately avoided her embrace.  
  
"No, Janine," Egon said, refusing her advance.  
  
"Egon I…" Janine didn't know what to say.  
  
Egon shook his head. "We were set up. Those demons attacked the Sedgewick for the specific purpose of killing us. We guessed it to be a trap, but we went anyway," Egon looked down ruefully, "I miscalculated, and now Peter's dead." Egon felt his defenses come down, and he broke down and started to cry.  
  
"That's it, Egon, honey," Janine said, holding him, "let it all out."  
  
"I couldn't save him! I couldn't save him!"  
  
"It's not your fault, you have a dangerous job. It was only a matter of time before one of you got hurt."  
  
Egon felt his misery harden, and turn to anger. He struggled to calm himself. "I can't, Janine. I can't stop to mourn, I have to find Traitus before he gets a chance to kill again. If we don't bust him I'll never be able to live with myself. I'm going downstairs to get the guys together, and come up with a plan."  
  
"Egon…"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I'll take care of any nosy reporters who show up, but you'll have to give a statement to the police."  
  
"Yes," Egon nodded, and turned to the basement, "Thank you, Janine."  
  
Don't thank me yet, Egon. It's not over, not until we find out why those demons wanted you.  
  
* * *  
  
ALL SAINTS HOSPITAL  
  
Erika Ruddle carefully took the heart for transplant and surgically placed it in her patient with care. That was the easy part. Now she had to be prepared for the very real risk that the patient's body might reject it. She had taken every precaution, of course, she cared too much about the lives and safety of her patients to do otherwise. Once she was finished with this patient, and there were no emergencies, she could go home and go on a date with her dear boyfriend, Peter.  
  
She was also craving a cigarette something fierce. It was times like these that made her wish she never started smoking. At least Peter didn't seem to mind her habit, though unlike Bill Murray, Peter was a nonsmoker himself. He did have some experience with illicit drugs, as he attended Woodstock and was high there, but he was smart enough not to have formed an addiction. Smart enough… or just lucky.  
  
Dr. Monica Johnson, her friend and co-worker, recognized Erika's symptoms and offered to fill in while she took a break. Erika gratefully accepted, and thanked her promptly before leaving to go outside and light one up.  
  
* * *  
  
NEW YORK CITY MORGUE  
  
Chief Medical Examiner Laura Dunlop's caseload was already filled with murders when news of Peter Venkman's tragic death came in. Since she had followed the Ghostbusters' career from the beginning, she wanted to know what happened to Peter. She walked over to the drawer with Peter's name on it and pulled it out. Then she lifted the shroud, and screamed…  
  
To Be Continued… 


End file.
